Tite Defends ‘Human’ Neymar

Brazil boss Tite has defended his talisman Neymar, following the Seleção’s last gasp 2-0 victory over Costa Rica on Friday. Goals from Coutinho and Neymar in stoppage time secured a precious 3 points for Tite’s side.

“[Neymar’s] individuality shows up if the whole group is playing well,” Tite said. “You can’t put all the responsibility on one player. He was out three and a half months and he played the full match. He’s a human being.

“He needs some time to resume his high standard but before he does that there is a team which has to be strong and not dependent on him.” Tite was also unhappy with the decision to overturn a penalty call for Brazil after the referee consulted with VARs.

“If I was the referee I would not go back but I respect that because it is subject to interpretation,” the Brazil manager said. “We don’t need referees to win the game, we just want it to be fair. To me it was a penalty.

“But we don’t want any help. We don’t need any help, the players don’t need help, I don’t want help. We want to be more competent.”